Movie Hits By Los Lobos, Madonna Gaining On U2

As expected, the Irish group U2 held on to its No. 1 ranking on the U.S. charts with ''I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.''

But two American acts are making more noise, tearing up the charts with big movie hits.

One is Madonna's ''Who's That Girl,'' which zipped from No. 7 to No. 2, putting it directly in line for No. 1 honors next week. The Material Girl is doing just as well on the international charts, where ''Who's That Girl'' debuted at No. 1 this week in Italy, is in its second week at No. 1 in the Netherlands and is No. 2 in West Germany and Britain.

The other is Los Lobos' ''La Bamba,'' which coincidentally is the very song that kept Madonna from the top spot in Britain this week. On the U.S. list, ''La Bamba'' leaped from No. 11 to No. 5 and also looks like a surefire No. 1 -- if not next week, then definitely the week after.

Two other impressive gains were made by Michael Jackson's ''I Just Can't Stop Loving You'' (up from No. 37 to No. 16) and Whitney Houston's ''Didn't We Almost Have It All'' (up from No. 40 to No. 25). But neither of these songs will have a chance at No. 1 until the end of the Madonna-Los Lobos reign, which could last for an entire month.

Still No. 1 among albums is Whitney Houston's Whitney, which could face a strong challenge from the runner-up, Heart's Bad Animals, now that the West Coast group has released a strong single (''Who Will You Run To?'') as a follow-up to its recent No. 1 Alone.

Chart event of the week: The first Top 40 hit for the Grateful Dead after nearly two decades of failures on the singles' charts. The record that did it for them is ''Touch of Grey,'' which jumped from No. 47 to No. 32 this week and now has a good chance of cracking the Top 20.

This week's pick hit is ''Lost in Emotion'' by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, who followed up their recent No. 1 dance hit ''Head to Toe'' with a more laid-back effort that recalls the easy charm of those '60s Motown hits.